Ever since Zac was about 5 weeks old he has been coming to the hairdressers with me. An alarming amount of grey hair means that I need to get my roots done every 6 weeks. It isn’t practical for me to drop Zac anywhere for him to be looked after during my appointment, which means I have no choice but to bring him with me.

He is now 18 months old and still comes with me every six weeks (and now he gets his done at the same time too!). I always get so many questions and comments about how I do it and how brave I am. But it is completely doable! I must admit it was actually much easier when he was a newborn, as he gets older he is more active and so not as content in a pram.

But here are some of my tips and tricks for making a trip to the hairdressers with a baby or toddler easier!

1. Take a pram

Quite obvious and self explanatory really, you want to keep them contained at all times.

If you have more than one pram then bring the cheaper one just in case of any hair dye spills!

2. Change their nappy before you go

I always change Zac’s nappy just before we walk out the door, that way I don’t need to change him while we are there (as long as he doesn’t poo!)

3. Bring lots of DIFFERENT toys

I always try to bring a large variety of toys:

• Books
• Soft toys
• Teething toys
• Electrical/musical

Something I have also started doing recently is letting Zac chose his own toys. I let him fill up a bag himself (I do also add some other bits myself just to make sure he hasn’t just packed balls from the ball pit and wooden fruit).

Brining some new toys or ones which aren’t often played with can be a good idea too as they are new and exciting.

If all else fails – YouTube on your phone or a tablet can be a lifesaver!

4. Plan for a nap

I always try to plan it so Zac is due a nap just as we get there. I usually book my appointment for around midday, I keep Zac awake all morning so he is tired. As soon as we get there I let him start eating his lunch and then pray he will sleep after!

This used to work for quite a while however, now Zac is way too nosey and doesn’t ever sleep when we are out, so he doesn’t often sleep anymore.

5. Snack, Snacks and more snacks

When Zac was new born I used to make sure I had a bottle made up ready for him to have and also a ready made bottle as a back up!

Now he is older I bring as many snacks as I can!

It is good to try and bring snacks which are as mess free as possible.

I usually go for a plain ham sandwich and cut it into bite size squares – this avoids crumbs.

Some other good snacks are

• Yoghurt or fruit pouches
• Wafers
• Rice cakes
• Biscuits
• Cheese string

I usually always bring an apple, Zac loves apples. They are mess free and take him quite a while to eat.

Sometimes nothing will work…

Sometimes all of this works, everything goes to plan and I manage to get a pretty peaceful trip to the hairdressers. But he is still an unpredictable toddler. So sometimes it all goes to shit and it doesn’t matter what I do he still has a full on tantrum, won’t sleep and screams/whinges almost the entire time!

Sometimes I take an entire bag of snacks and 99% of them are mess free, but he screams until I give in and give him a “dip dip” (Dairy Lee Dunker) and this is the result…

So you just have to be prepared for this and not stress. People are actually pretty understanding and often also try to help and occupy them.

So if it doesn’t go to plan, Talk to them, play with them, walk around with them, rock the pram – do whatever you can.

Even when Zac has a tantrum it is still worth going; I get my hair done, I get a coffee, adult conversation and a head massage.

So just do it! Don’t stress, book that appointment and get your hair done!

Thanks for reading!